FW: [MAIPC] NEWS: Court Rules that EPA Failed to Protect U.S. Waters from Aquatic Invasive Species
FYI
The following was forwarded by Stephen Young (at Cornell)
earlier this month, but did not go through so we're reposting it.
- MAIPC Board
From: Jordan Lubetkin
Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 11:45 AM
To: ALL_NWF
Subject: NEWS: Court Rules that EPA Failed to Protect U.S. Waters from
Aquatic Invasive Species
Folks-
I wanted to share some exciting news. Yesterday, in a
unanimous 3-0 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit ruled that the
EPA failed to live up to its obligations under the Clean Water Act to protect
U.S. waters from aquatic invasive species introduced by ballast water
discharge. This is a huge victory for NWF and our conservation allies.
Ballast water invaders cost citizens, businesses, industry,
and municipalities billions of dollars per year annually due to damages and
control costs. Now, the EPA must go back to the drawing board and craft a
permit that protects U.S. waters from this serious threat.
Thanks to Neil Kagan, senior attorney, who has been
relentless in his pursuit of this issue; as well as Marc Smith, Andy Buchsbaum,
and Michael Murray, who have helped elevate this issue over the years in the
Great Lakes region and nationally. Speaking of nationally, thanks to Bruce
Stein and Josh Saks who have been keeping watch over this in D.C. to make sure
Congress does not undermine our ability under the Clean Water Act to protect
our waters, fish, and wildlife from the serious threat of invasive species.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Jordan
Northwest
Environmental Advocates - Center for Biological Diversity
Natural
Resources Defense Council - National Wildlife Federation
Contact:
Jordan Lubetkin, National Wildlife Federation (734) 904-1589, lubetkin@nwf.org
Nina Bell, Northwest Environmental Advocates (503) 295-0490 nbell@advocates-nwea.org
Margie Kelly, Natural Resources Defense Council (312) 651-7935 mkelly@nrdc.org
Miyoko Sakashita, Center for Biological Diversity (510) 844-7108
ext. 308 Miyoko@biologicaldiversity.org
Court Rules
that EPA Failed to Protect U.S. Waters from Aquatic Invasive Species
Huge victory for U.S. waters, economy,
fish, wildlife, communities, businesses.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. (October 5, 2015) – In a unanimous 3-0 decision that has ramifications for
waters across the country—from Long Island Sound to the Great Lakes to the Gulf
of Mexico to San Francisco Bay—the U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit
today ruled that the U.S. EPA failed its responsibility under the Clean Water
Act to protect U.S. waters from aquatic invasive species introduced by ballast
water discharge. Ballast water invaders cost citizens, businesses, industry,
and municipalities billions of dollars annually due to damages and
control costs.
Northwest Environmental Advocates, Center for Biological
Diversity, Natural Resources Defense Council, and National Wildlife Federation
sued the EPA over the agency’s ballast water permit, which limits the amount of
live, biological pollution ships can discharge into U.S. waters. The
conservation groups asserted that the permit was ineffective and would not
protect U.S. waters from future invasions of non-native species. The court
agreed. The current permit, as conservation groups requested in their lawsuit,
will stay in effect until the EPA releases a new, stronger permit.
Conservation groups hailed the court’s decision:
“The court understood the real world implications of EPA’s
failure, the incredible economic and environmental expense of invasive species
that this EPA permit allows the shipping industry to release upon the waters of
the United States,” said Nina Bell, Executive Director of the Oregon-based
Northwest Environmental Advocates (NWEA). “The court ruled against
EPA on nearly all grounds, establishing that the Clean Water Act cannot be
addressed through a series of bureaucratic checklists that fail to provide real
protection to the nation’s waters.”
“This is a huge win for our environment, economy, fish,
wildlife, communities, and businesses,” said Marc Smith, policy director for
the National Wildlife Federation. “The court, in no uncertain terms, has
told the federal government that it needs to uphold its responsibility under
the Clean Water Act to protect our drinking water, jobs, and way of life. This
decision is welcome news for the millions of families, anglers, hunters,
paddlers, beach-goers, and business owners who have borne the brunt of damages
from aquatic invasive species for far too long. We look forward to working with
the U.S. EPA to put in place safeguards that adhere to the Clean Water Act and
protect all of our nation’s waters that are essential for people, fish, and
wildlife. It’s time to slam the door on this serious threat once and for
all.”
“Today’s decision is a big victory for the Great Lakes and
our nation’s waters,” said Rebecca Riley, senior attorney, Natural Resources
Defense Council (NRDC). “Aquatic invasive species like zebra mussels and
quagga mussels impose billions of dollars of costs on our economy every year,
damaging infrastructure like public water supplies and energy generation
systems, and devastating commercial and recreational fisheries. The court made
it clear that EPA cannot give up in the fight against invasive species; more
can and must be done to protect the Great Lakes and other critically important
waters.”
“This ruling means that EPA needs to get serious about
regulating ballast water in ships that has wreaked havoc on local ecosystems
including the San Francisco Bay,” said Miyoko Sakashita, oceans director,
Center for Biological Diversity. “Every year 21 billion gallons of ballast
water are dumped into our waters with all sorts of invasive species that
destroy local diversity.”
The National Wildlife Federation is America's
largest conservation organization inspiring Americans to protect wildlife for
our children's future. For more National Wildlife Federation news visit www.nwf.org/news
Northwest Environmental Advocates is a regional non-profit environmental organization
established in 1969 and located in Portland, Oregon. NWEA works through
advocacy and education to protect and restore water quality, wetlands, and
wildlife habitat in the Northwest and the nation. www.northwestenvironmentaladvocates.org
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an
international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 2 million
members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other
environmental specialists have worked to protect the world's natural resources,
public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City,
Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and
Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org
and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.
The Center for Biological Diversity is a national,
nonprofit conservation organization with more than 900,000 members and online
activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.
###
Jordan Lubetkin
Senior Regional Communications Manager
National Wildlife Federation I Great Lakes
Regional Center
@NWFgreatlakes
@healthylakes
